


Night Whispers

by YAJJ



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Cloud is So So Dad-Shaped now, I just really love Theresa and Naomi so that's who the two Carriers are, I'm so sorry Kareen2006 i'm not sure how much of this is accurate, M/M, Save the Kittens verse, Save the Kittens: Leon and Cloud's story, WAY beyond the current storyline, You guys the timeline is so off, just some strifehart fluff for the soul
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-27 05:08:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20040412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YAJJ/pseuds/YAJJ
Summary: When insomnia strikes, Cloud can't help breaking the rules a little bit, and sharing a chat with his growing daughters. Leon takes it about as well as can be expected.





	Night Whispers

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Save the Kittens! - Leon and Cloud's Story](https://archiveofourown.org/works/457478) by [Kareen2006](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kareen2006/pseuds/Kareen2006). 

> Like I said y'all the timeline is way off and absolutely no matter what anything that Kareen2006 says/does differently overwrites this 100% I just wanted some cute Strifehart because those two just need to......... get on with it. Altogether. And I don't know when it happens that Cloud actually says he loves Leon (like officially and everything bc he do) but it's def. before this. Cloud's just a little ball of emotion rn. And I chose the Carriers' model numbers bc family,,,, but totally willing to change if preferred.

Cloud’s eyes were glowing again, but this time for a wholly different reason than the last time they had lit up. There was something almost innocent, and almost certainly delighted, in his eyes. 

He was sat in front of the Gestational Chamber, where a little fetus grew. She was nearly 7 months old now, and growing more every day. Cloud was absolutely fascinated with her. He spent as much time focusing on her as he did his studies or his work. He was careful about it, though—Leon had yet to allow him to be near the Gestational Chamber even in his presence. Nevermind out of it. If Leon found out about this, he was sure to lose his head. And Cloud wouldn’t even blame him. 

He hadn’t even meant to be here. He was just kept awake by his insomnia. He and Leon had fallen asleep sometime around nine, since Cloud had pretty much fully adapted to the Carrier’s schedule. But despite pleasant hair skritches and the soft hum of music from his tablet, Cloud had awoken in the dead of night. And was totally unable to fall back asleep. 

He didn’t really know how he ended up here. Didn’t remember getting out of bed, didn’t remember walking. Just one minute, he was in bed being spooned, the next he was stood in the doorway of their lab, the young Carriers-to-be beckoning to him with little to no effort. 

He heeded Leon first. Leon’s command that he not be anywhere near the Gestational Terminals without him right there was a fair one; Cloud had done huge damage in the past, and though history was meant to stay in the past for  _ Leon _ , that didn’t erase that protective desire to eliminate anyone who  _ dared  _ hurt his family. And after all of the work they had put in, all of the patience, the care, the trust that they had put in the past decade, he didn’t want to ruin it just by somehow reverting back to his asshole younger self. 

…

And then it was too good to pass up. 

She was just so damn  _ cute _ . She looked almost like a human baby. He could almost picture her little face twisted and wailing as she was pulled from her mother’s body, her little fingers and toes bunched up in newborn fists. Could almost picture himself holding the newborn for the first time. He didn’t know if that meant that Leon was the newborn’s mother in this bizarre imagining of his, or what all that was supposed to mean. He wasn’t sure that he liked how that all felt. 

He kept his distance at first. Stayed near the doorway. Waved at her, even though she had no idea that he was even there. Glanced at the vitals on the machine and, seeing that they were all right where they should be, glanced back. 

He took two brave steps in, pausing to listen in case Leon had supersonic hearing (he did) and would know that he was disturbing the chamber unallowed. With no storming six-foot tall Carrier tearing down the hallway, Cloud found it moderately safe, and went in further. 

Next he knew, he grabbed a chair. Left its legs on the ground, of course, he wasn’t a maniac anymore. He just wheeled the chair over and sat facing the back of the chair a good five feet from her. Give her her space. If she was anything like him or Leon, she was sure to value her space eventually. And that way, if Leon did come in, scooting far, far out of the way would be significantly easier with the distance. 

“You know, 9xj3,” he said, because they didn’t have a name for her, because she was still about twenty years from choosing one for herself. He had always fancied a daughter by the name of Theresa, and he called her that in his head, but he didn’t let it stick because it was her choice. “Right now, I think you’re Leon’s Most Important Person.”

He had a confidence and certainty in his voice that it didn’t matter. His heart twinged with jealousy for this barely-alive thing for only a second. But even though much of Leon’s attention was devoted to 9xj3, her sister, and whatever siblings they may try to create in the future, Cloud knew that eventually Leon would come back so Cloud could be his Most Important Person again. It was a tough role to fill, with big shoes, but Cloud knew the job up and down by now and was more than qualified. 

“I don’t mind. This time, I’ll share. Just promise you’ll give him back soon.”

The floating fetus, of course, had no response, but Cloud knew she agreed and would give him back his Carrier soon enough. 

“You can keep him for a little bit longer, though. You’re helping him. It’s cool.”

Being able to focus on the fetus, as well as Cloud’s studies and everything, kept Leon busy and mostly active, fighting off his depression. There were some days, though, that he had such a hard time even getting out of bed, that Cloud decided he needed more sleep and  _ demanded _ the Carrier keep him warm. He wasn’t sure that it helped Leon at all, but it always made a sort of sad, sort of soft smile cross his face. And  _ that _ was what Cloud called Mission Accomplished. 

Cloud crossed his arms on the back of the chair and leaned his chin forward on them, watching her. She didn’t move much—occasionally she kicked or wiggled her fingers, sometimes she moved her head, but she didn’t do much else. Cloud was fascinated all the same. 

“It’s cool being someone’s Most Important Person, though. Really cool. Really scary when you’re an adult, but still super cool. If you ever become someone’s Most Important Person, don’t fuck it up. For your sake or theirs. And if you do, make sure you’re there to fix it.” 

The fetus floated about.

“Ahh—though I suppose you’ll be choosing  _ your _ Most Important Person, won’t you? Some advice. Don’t settle. Wait until you find your perfect Charge. Eden knows your dad should have. It would have saved him a lot of heartache.” But—history was in the past. It was done. It was better now. He loved Leon—adored him with his whole heart, being honest. He hadn’t known that it was possible to love someone as strongly as he did Leon, but here he was. Head over heels. A small smile, content, drifted over his face, and he tipped his ear toward his elbow. “...Good thing he didn’t wait, I guess. You wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t so dumb and needy.”

The fetus continued making no response. Cloud found that he didn’t care. Even if she wasn’t responsive, he liked talking to her. At her. Whatever. He had asked Leon if she could understand them, sometime ago, and the Carrier admitted to not being sure—he certainly learned the language while in gestation, but he wasn’t sure at what point he was actually able to understand it all. Cloud liked to think the little fetus could. She would like to know that someone acknowledged her. 

“You’re gonna be the cutest thing.”

Cloud was of the opinion that ninety-nine percent of the time, babies were ugly. His own babies, at least, weren’t as ugly as other peoples’ babies. He could look at this one, after all, for hours. The profile showed that when she matured, she would be absolutely gorgeous. A traffic stopper, no doubt. Leon said she looked like his mother, and Cloud had never seen his mother so he had no choice but to believe him. It was weird, that this beautiful young Carrier was coming from both him  _ and _ Leon. He got it all, and for the most part it made sense, but the whole concept was sort of… bizarre.

But the proof was right there in front of him. Their other daughter, not much older than 9xj3, was even  _ better _ proof by then. Cloud had been equally fascinated by her, but hadn’t had any nighttime excursions to converse with her. 

“You and 9xc7 are gonna look just like my mother, I guess. You won’t meet her, but that’s okay. I didn’t meet her either. Me and Leon’ll be enough, I promise.” He leaned his head to the side again, watching her. Feeling himself fall in love all over again. “I’m gonna do everything I can for you. Help you with all this. I don’t know how, but I’m gonna give you everything you need, and want, and—“ And he was gonna spoil her like crazy. Everything he earned, from the shop and being a Charge, was going to her. Her, 9xc7, and anyone else that came after. “ _ Everything _ .”

He glanced at her profile again, the picture of her after she matured tucked safely inside. He didn’t know how he and Leon had made something  _ so _ beautiful, but they had. And Cloud was determined to make many more like her. 

“You really are gonna be something else. You’ll have to beat off all the boys with a stick, when you go to find your Charge. And all the girls, too. Don’t worry. I’ll show you some combat techniques so you’ll be ready.” His eyes crinkled a little at the side—the thought was very odd for such a passive group of people. If she was anything like Leon, then she would hate fighting, too. Still. Better safe than sorry.

“And that way, if your Charge is a surprise huge jackass, you won’t have to deal with that. If they still are when you get home, I’ll take care of them for you. Nobody messes with my little girls.” Nevermind that they would both be twenty by the time he finally actually  _ met  _ them, let alone the time it took to decide on a Charge and then retrieve them. 

“Hear that, 9xc7?  _ Nobody.” _

He tilted his head a little to the other side, getting an eyeful of both daughters. 9xc7 looked a lot like him, not quite yet, but she would grow to. They had the same nose and the shape of their eyes were eerily similar. He didn’t know if calling his daughters cute like he did was some sort of backwards self-compliment, and decided not to think about that. There was some Leon in there, after all. A lot more in 9xj3 than in 9xc7, actually. A lot of her features were stronger than 9xc7. Honestly, how Cloud used to get away with calling Leon womanly in  _ any _ fashion— _ history is in the past, history is in the past _ —he didn’t know. He was pretty sure that he was the one with the softer face by now. At least, he didn’t have Resting Bitch Face down to a T like Leon did. 

“I hope you’re just like him,” Cloud said, glancing over at 9xj3. “He’s a good guy. He’s so patient, and kind, and…” He smiled a lovestruck little smile before he realized that if 9xj3 could hear him, she would have no clue whom he was talking about. “Your dad is everything that someone would want to be. Everything I wish I was.”

If Leon heard him talking like that, there would be some sort of “who thinks who is better” argument, because Leon only saw Leon’s faults and not  _ nearly _ enough of Cloud’s, but also Cloud saw only Cloud’s faults and probably nearly as few of Leon’s faults as possible. The Carrier was boring, and Cloud found himself struggling to entertain himself many days, but if that was the worst that life with Leon would be now, a little boring, then he could more than handle it. 

“You’ll look a lot like him,” he said, imagining a head of thick hair the same shade as Leon’s upon 9xj3. “You’ll have to beat off all the boys and girls, too.” His eyes drifted up toward the picture’s brow, heavy like Leon’s was. He laughed. “Well, maybe not  _ as _ much. You’re gonna have his brow. Which kinda sucks, but only because his brow makes him look really mad even when he’s not mad at all. But, I mean—” He relaxed his own brow and felt it settle heavy over his own eyes. “I’m not a whole lot better. I think you were kinda fucked either way.”

The fetuses gave no response, but obviously Cloud expected nothing. 

“You’ll be good though. You’ll be beautiful, too. You both will. And when anything gets hard, and you need to not be alone anymore, I’ll be here.  _ We’ll _ be here. That’s what family is for.” He could recall Zack and Tifa telling him about Leon isolating himself in the years after his gestation because he felt he had no one else. His heart ached for his poor, lonely Carrier. He hadn’t even been born at the time, was many years from being born at all, but he still felt irrationally guilty for not being there to support his lover through his crippling loneliness. 

At least Cloud could squeeze the lonely out of him, now. And sitting in front of the tanks, much like Cloud was, could help Leon ward off lingering loneliness. He had a family now—still growing, yes, but a family all the same. 

“The first time you change will be awesome, too. Just a whole pile of lions lounging around in the sun—Leon will be absolutely giddy. It’s still a long way off, but it’s fun to think about. I’ve seen Leon change like a hundred times, but a lioness will be nice to see. I wonder if you’re going to look anything like Tifa.” Without the melanin of course, but still.

“I won’t have any influence there. I haven’t seen myself as a lion,” for obvious reasons, “so you’ll just have his big paws, and beady little eyes, and fluffy tails. And he’ll give you his  _ cutest _ little lion nose.” It was his favorite part of the lion Carrier, after all. Though it was cold and wet and often wove tales of chilly marks on his skin, there was something about it that fit so squarely on Leon’s face. Some days,  _ if _ Leon hadn’t already licked it as he was sometimes wont to do, he couldn’t help but kiss it. 

“I have a cute lion nose?”

Cloud bit back a scream at the sudden voice at three in the morning. He whipped his head around, heart already pounding in his throat because he knew what he would find—his own demise, at the hands of a  _ very _ angry Carrier. 

Indeed, Leon had crept up on him, standing in the doorway. Cloud could hardly see him—only the lights in the hall and the lights glowing off of the tanks illuminating him. But Cloud didn’t have to see him, to feel the fury radiating off the Carrier in waves. 

After all, Leon had one  _ absolute _ rule. Cloud was not to be anywhere near the tanks without him. And where, exactly, was Cloud?

Cloud stood and startled with a quiet yell, throwing his hands up and away from the chair as if to prove he was doing no harm. His heart pounded harder, so hard he could hear it outside of his chest and almost  _ certainly _ Leon could. He tripped backwards and smacked against the exam table and stopped there, waiting for death to rear her ugly head. 

“I wasn’t doing any—”

“ _ Shut up _ ,” Leon spat, storming in. He bypassed Cloud for now, sparing him for the time being, and instead went to check on his babies. He flicked through a screen, two, three on each tank before confirming that in fact, Cloud had done nothing to them and the babies continued growing happy and healthy inside. 

Regardless, the Carrier whirled on his Charge, clearly demanding repentance for such a high crime. Hadn’t Leon promised that Cloud’s skull would be a bowl if he got anywhere near this? “What were you doing?”

“Nothing,” Cloud said quickly, which was the honest to goodness truth. Nothing but marveling. It suddenly occurred to him that he wasn’t going to be able to see his daughters mature like he wanted to. 

“ _ What were you doing. _ ” It was no longer a question. 

“...Just checking on them. I woke up,” Cloud waved a hand nervously, nowhere near the direction of the chair because at the moment, Leon would  _ definitely _ notice such a movement and take affront to it. “And I couldn’t fall back asleep. I just wanted to make sure they were okay.”

“I told you you’re  _ not allowed near them _ .”

“I know—” Cloud swallowed a lump in his throat, quickly averting his eyes from his enraged Carrier. “I know.”

“So what were you  _ thinking _ ?”

“...I wasn’t.” It was how he tended to end up in most of the bad situations in his life, after all. “I wasn’t going to do anything to them, I swear.”

Leon opened his mouth, as if baring his fangs and preparing to say something all at once. Then he stopped, and though Cloud couldn’t see well, he  _ could _ see the  _ history needs to stay in the past _ filtering in and out of his brain. He was fighting with his anger and fear and protective drive, and Cloud couldn’t yet tell which one was winning. 

Then, the Carrier let out a powerful, shaky sigh, located a chair, and dropped into it with all the weight of his Primal. And Cloud knew who had won. 

Cloud scooted over to him quickly, going the long away around the tables to put distance between himself and the tanks. He found himself another chair and dragged it over beside his Carrier, but didn’t drop into it yet. Instead, he stretched his hands out and took Leon’s cheeks in them. 

“Don’t  _ do _ that to me,” Leon said, bringing his hands up partly to cover his face and partly to grab Cloud’s hands in his own. 

“I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“I can’t—” Whatever Leon wanted to say was caught in his throat, and he bit back the sound. He heaved out another shaky breath, shaking his and Cloud’s hands so that Cloud could feel just how scared he was. 

“I’m sorry.” At least for once, he was apologizing for something he had actually done  _ now _ . 

“If something happens to them—”

“I won’t  _ let _ anything happen to them.”

“You—” Again, the Carrier stopped himself from saying what he wanted to say, forced history to stay in the past, and fell silent, even though Cloud knew exactly what he wanted to say.  _ You were the one that caused the problem in the first place _ . He had no real response to that, because it was the painful truth. 

The Carrier calmed himself after a while. Cloud didn’t make mention of the cool trails tracking over the exposed parts of his hand. He wanted to pull the brunette in for a tight hug, but now didn’t seem like a very good time for that. 

Once Leon calmed his emotions, he squeezed Cloud’s fingertips and pulled them from his face. He pressed a kiss against his knuckles, then lowered his elbows to his knees and brought Cloud’s hands with them. Cloud kicked the chair around so it was settled right next to Leon, then took a seat. Together, the two of them looked upon their healthily growing daughters. 

“If something happens to them,” Leon said again, very softly. His voice was a little heavy, drifting back towards sleep. It was still a little early for him to be up. “I don’t know what I’ll do with myself.” He couldn’t take much more trauma. 

“I won’t let  _ anything _ happen to them,” Cloud repeated, promising to himself, to Leon, and to the girls. 

Leon tilted his head down toward Cloud, so Cloud leaned toward him, touching their heads together. Leon had a bit of height on Cloud, so his hung over Cloud’s head and touched him somewhere near his temple.

“...I won’t do it again,” Cloud said very, very quietly. Getting the chance to talk to his daughters, when they couldn’t even acknowledge his presence, wasn’t worth the emotional drainage when the sun wasn’t even awake to warrant a good feline sunbath. 

Leon squeezed his hands again—partially in thanks, partially in agreement. It made Cloud smile a little, but he didn’t show the smile to Leon. After a short while of them still watching the little fetuses float about and do nothing, Leon piped up, slowly and quietly, “did you have a good… conversation?”

Cloud winced a little, not so harshly that he backed from his needy Carrier. “...You heard that?” 

“...You said I have a cute lion nose.”

Cloud turned and looked at him, eyes roaming up and down his face. His eyes caught briefly on the scar between his eyes. The mark had faded a little, but it wasn’t nearly old enough to have faded like the ones on his chest and back. Even if it did, Cloud knew he’d be able to pick it out for a long, long time. 

He ignored it for now, though, for the sake of his confused Carrier who didn’t like the scar, and the subject surrounding it, being brought up. Instead, he got his feet beneath him, took back one of his hands, and settled it on Leon’s opposite cheek to keep his face in place. He pressed his lips briefly against the side of Leon’s nose, kissing it tenderly. Then, before Leon could respond, he sunk back into his chair and tucked a little further down, leaning his head fully on the brunette’s shoulder blade to continue watching his daughters. Leon turned his head to watch him, but said nothing.

“A cute human one, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please, let me know how it was! Like I said I don't know that this fits STK ALL that well but. I still have many emotions about it and am very excited for WHATEVER may happen in the future.


End file.
